estwald

Regarding potential Propecia users who are nervous about the sexual side effects, my advice has always been to try it yourself and see how the drug affects you. But earlier this week I read some disturbing new research about the long term dangers of propecia/finasteride which is making me carefully rethink my current usage. Let me try to find those links.. Men Report Sexual Impairment After Using Common Hair Loss Drug - AOL Health and here is the study itself: Persistent Sexual Side Effects of Finasteride for Male Pattern Hair Loss - Irwig - 2011 - The Journal of Sexual Medicine - Wiley Online Library

Personally, I have to disagree with the very premise of the first post. I just quickly visited the SMG & Rahal websites and they both show dozens and dozens of excellent results, many with in-depth summaries and multiple pre-op & post-op photos at various angles. I'm not sure that your hypothesis that only the H&W site shows convincing results is correct.

darren, there are some very impressive propecia results posted on Dr. Bernstein's site: Propecia (Finasteride) Hair Loss Medication | Bernstein Medical - Center for Hair Restoration hope this helps.

Mr 007, you seem sincere in your desire to repair your previous HT and research the differences in techniques between clinics. Here is the best advice I can give you: Call back or email Joe & Matt Z and apologize for acting like an ass and just come clean about who you are and what your situation is. I'm sure they'd be happy to help you and to answer all your questions if you just show a little maturity. This whole community is here to help but if you start pissing off the best clinics you may find yourself barred from the best clinics... So just start over with those guys, send an apology, send photos, have a real consultation, and see what each clinic recommends for you. And in the meantime you should use these forums in an appropriate way. Your question about sagittal vs lateral slits is a good one. Maybe you'll get some good responses. "Ciao" Edit: I just saw Bill already responded while I was typing. Bill, I don't think this guy is out to tarnish anyone, I think he truly wants to know the differences in technique between SMG & H&W, he just went about very poorly. I almost pity the guy.

I'm not totally sure what that means but the reason that the best doctors (or the elite of any profession) do not advertise is because they don't need to. Their reputation speaks for itself. For example, you don't see many advertisements for Harvard University do you? But I guess my point was that these "top doc" threads are a dime a dozen and it seems like you've already read most of them. Shapiro and H&W, two fine choices you've named yourself. Asking people to submit 5 names will surely lead this thread into echo-chamber territory.

Respectfully, I think that threads like these are counterproductive to these forums. When it comes to the ranking of physicians the internet serves as a giant echo-chamber. It starts with a few people writing that "Dr. X" is the best of the best, which is read by others who repeat this sentiment over and over until the masses just blindly accept that Dr. X is the best of the best. And sometimes the reality is that Dr. X is just an average surgeon with an exceptional publicity mechanism. In the world of cosmetic surgery this is often how things work. I seriously doubt that most posters on this forum have had enough experience with one HT surgeon let alone FIVE for the purpose of comparison. So I'm afraid most of these lists will just be hearsay. If you truly wish to find the "top docs" in any field you should gather information from hospitals, medical schools and universities (in addition to speaking with actual patients). The best doctors tend not to advertise because they are well known within their field and respected by their peers. ...Just trying to help.

Guys, I'm fully aware of what has been written in this thread. But the fact is that Badluck had cleared up the "drugging" issue long ago (post#18). He was no longer accusing Dr. Feller of anything criminal but rather complaining about the process of being "sold" a surgery without the doctor disclosing all risks or complications associated with the procedure. And no guys it is not Badluck's responsibility to research this procedure online to discover all of these facts 2nd hand, a surgeon is supposed to tell you what the risks are for any surgery. I once met Dr. Feller for a consultation. I liked him, I found him knowledgeable, but I also felt a bit like I was being "sold" something. I definitely wasn't informed of any downside or risk to the procedure. He painted a very rosy picture of the whole thing and then sent me to his secretary for scheduling. I could have very easily put down a deposit without knowing there was a chance of failure. (But in fairness I have met with several docs who also didn't disclose the risks). But let's not misinterpret what this thread is truly about. It's about a dissatisfied a patient of Dr. Fellers who feels let down by the whole process, especially his result & post-op care and wants to share his story. He has already redacted what may have been inaccurate information about the medications and appears to want an amicable solution. As far as I'm concerned, it is Dr. Fellers reaction that is now the most telling part of this thread. Last night I was simply stunned to read: This essentially serves as a threat to any future patient of Dr. Fellers not to express dissatisfaction with the Feller experience. At worst, he will throw a lawsuit at you. At best, he will be very angry at you. Again, the "drugging" part of this story had already been corrected. Listen, I have no prior beef with Dr. Feller and I'm not looking to make waves or pile on, I just find elements of this thread VERY upsetting. Good luck to all involved.

A Lawsuit?! Are you serious Dr. Feller?!!! I'm sorry for chiming in guys but this is the 3rd or 4th thread I've seen on various forums where I have been truly ALARMED by Dr. Feller's reaction to one of his patients posting dissatisfaction about their procedure. I have been following the hair loss forums for a few years and I can think of no other doctor who has benefited from online hype as much as Dr. Feller. Even within this thread he is supported by the vast majority. To cry foul that any serious damage to his reputation has been done because of 1500 views of the thread is simply an overreaction. Dr. Feller, your first post in this thread was calm, mature and sensible. It probably would have been wise to gracefully exit the conversation at this point, especially considering Badluck if anything tried to de-escalate the situation. But then you needlessly jumped back in (in post #56) and come off as overly defensive and insecure. Quite frankly I would be very nervous to be a patient of yours after reading all this. Not because of Badluck's account but because of your own words. And for the record, I happen to be very sensitive to doctors concerns about negative feedback, as I know one bad story can do far more harm than the benefit from a positive one, but as a prospective HT patient myself I agree with what several people have already said, that the negative reviews are often the most helpful and deleting them would be a terrible disservice to the whole community. As long as the poster can verify that they were in fact a real patient of a given doctor then they should be able to fully share their story, even if it's not the glowing review that the doctor might want. And they should not have to fear being sued! Badluck- The one element of YOUR story that troubles me is... You really don't remember if you spoke to Dr. Feller on the phone or not?! Do you drink? I think most of us here would remember having such a conversation and not need to look through our phone logs for evidence. You either spoke to him or you didn't, you know? That kind of lack of recollection can really damage your credibility. But hopefully cooler heads will prevail and this won't go to court.

tj139, I'm sorry that you are suffering from hair loss. If you are traveling to the NYC area I would strongly recommend consulting with Dr. Robert Bernstein in Manhattan. Not only is he one of the people who pioneered the FUT procedure, but he has extensive experience treating women, which apparently is much more difficult than treating men. If you're coming to New York I think it would be very wise for you to hear his opinion. Anyway good luck with your hair restoration journey.

I find it hard to believe that any topical medication could cause impotence, even if applied to your...

hairtopik, out of curiosity what bad side effects was the Propecia giving you? is it possible that those sides were caused by the anti-depressants? According to the docs I know, Propecia will cause noticeable side effects in a very small minority of people. Around 2-3%. In terms of doctors I would recommend looking further than the names that simply get echoed on these boards. What is your location?

I think FUE is a little overhyped on these websites and should be avoided unless you are adamant about avoiding a linear scar from strip surgery. Some of the top docs will tell you that the FUE procedure is far from being perfected. In my opinion FUE is still risky, even if it's a small session.

If you're in the NYC area, I STRONGLY recommend consulting with Dr. Robert Bernstein in midtown Manhattan. Even if you don't end up having the procedure with him, you'll want to hear what he has to say. Trust me. Good Luck.